Community Colleges Hurt By Funding Discrepancies

BROWARD COMMUNITY College celebrates its 25th anniversary this week with fanfare and fond remembrances, but much of the silver associated with this event is missing.

BCC, like Palm Beach Junior College and 26 other two-year community colleges around the state, has found itself eating the dust of other public education institutions in the race for state dollars.

The situation has become so distressing to BCC President A. Hugh Adams that he recently suggested to a state higher education planning commission that BCC merge with another educational institution if it would mean more funds for the college.

Perhaps it was overstatement, but Adams made his point.

BCC, PBJC and other community colleges are experiencing a drop in enrollment, which normally leads to a corresponding drop in state funding. Legislators, however, held community college funding at previous levels last year because college presidents like Adams and PBJC`s Ed Eissey yelled long and hard that their two-year institutions are getting the short end of the stick.

So it seems. The state now provides an annual allocation of $2,600 per community college student, compared to $2,700 for kindergarten through 12- grade students and $8,200 for each state university student.

One can argue that the two-year associates degree programs offered by community colleges do not require the caliber of equipment or teachers required in a four-year college offering advanced degrees.

And one can reasonably argue that Florida has severely shortchanged its K-12 education system for years, so its improved level of funding is justified.

But how can one justify paying a first-year, K-12 teacher with a bachelor`s degree $17,500 a year, while paying a first-year, junior college teacher with a master`s degree $16,000. That is exactly the situation in Palm Beach County.

``We don`t want the Legislature to do anymore for us than what they are doing for other segments of educatiton. We simply want equity,`` said PBJC`s Eissey.

The same committee investigating the possible merger of Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University is looking into community college financing. The Postsecondary Education Planning Com-mission must forward its conclusions to the Legislature by January, with suggestions for corrective action if the commission deems any is warranted.

The funding discrepancies are obvious. What might not be so obvious to many legislators, however, is the fact that Florida`s public education system cannot be improved if one very vital part of it is allowed to slip. Community colleges should benefit from Florida`s new emphasis on educational quality.